This invention relates to a filter device for use in a fuel tank which can be used in various vehicles.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional filter device for use in a fuel tank. A suction pipe 2 penetrates through an upper wall of a tank body 1 and projects to near a bottom wall 1A of the tank body 1. A lower portion of the suction pipe 2 is connected to a filter device F. The fuel in the tank body 1 is sucked through the suction pipe 2 after impurities are removed by the filter device F.
In this filter device F, a socket portion 6 is formed at a central portion of an upper wall 4 of the filter body 3. The suction pipe 2 is bulged so as to form a protruding portion 2a. The suction pipe 2 is inserted into the socket portion 6 in such a manner that the protruding portion 2a of the suction pipe 2 is fixed in the socket portion 6 whereby the lower portion of the suction pipe 2 is fixed relative to the filter body 3.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show another conventional filter device. The filter body 7 has at a central portion of its upper wall 8 a short pipe portion 10 which protrudes downwardly within the filter body 7. A socket portion 11 is formed on a bottom wall 9 of the filter body 7. The socket portion 11 protrudes upwardly and faces the short pipe portion 10. The suction pipe 2 is inserted through the short pipe portion 10 and received in the socket portion 11. The suction pipe 2 has at its intermediate portion a bulged protruding portion 2a which is to engage a lower edge portion of the short pipe portion 10 in such a way that the suction pipe 2 is fixed to the filter body 7. This type of conventional filter device is shown and disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-26805.
In these conventional filter devices, however, the suction pipe 2 is fixed to the filter body 3, 7. If the filter body 3, 7 is positioned on or near the bottom wall 1A of the tank body 1, the filter body 3, 7 may be crushed so as to lose its filter performance when the bottom wall 1A of the tank body is inwardly deformed in case of road interferences of the tank body. In the prior art filter device of FIG. 1, the suction pipe 2 is closed by the filter bottom wall 5 at its lower end. For such a reason, the filter body 3, 7 must be apart from the bottom wall 1A of the tank body as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 so as to avoid the deformation of the filter body 3, 7, for instance, in case of the road interferences of the tank bottom wall 1A. If the lower end of the suction pipe 2 is largely apart from the bottom wall 1A of the tank body with the distance H, the fuel suction limit moves up so that the substantial volume of the fuel tank remarkably decreases.